MADISON — Assembly members voted 69-27 Tuesday to support a $546 million funding plan aimed at keeping the Milwaukee Brewers in Wisconsin through at least 2050.
The plan calls for $411 million from the state and $135 million from Milwaukee County and the city of Milwaukee to be paid over nearly 30 years. The Brewers, owned primarily by multimillionaire Mark Attanasio, would provide $100 million.
The package is “strong for taxpayers, strong for the team and really strong for our entire economy,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told reporters before the vote.
It’s the third proposal from state officials this year to fund renovations at American Family Field.
The stadium is largely owned by the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District, a state-created agency that leases the ballpark to the Brewers. This lease requires the stadium district to pay for the majority of the stadium’s long-term maintenance and renovations.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in February proposed spending $290 million on American Family Field as part of his $104 billion budget proposal, built on a then-$7 billion budget surplus. The plan was rejected by Republicans who control the Legislature.
The $290 million payment would have been combined with the $70 million already provided by the stadium district, along with interest income, to fund $448 million in renovations over 20 years. In return, the Brewers’ lease would have been extended from the end of 2030 to the end of 2043.
Assembly Republicans introduced their own proposal in September. It proposed spending $600 million — $400 million from the state and $200 million from Milwaukee County and the city of Milwaukee — and extending the lease through the end of 2050.
The revised proposal released last week would require the city and county to each pay $67.5 million over 27 years, a move aimed at winning more support among Democratic lawmakers.
The city and county would continue to contribute revenue under the proposal.
However, the financial damage is less because the bill reduces the fee the state charges local governments for administering local sales taxes from 1.75% to 0.75%. This results in an estimated increase in distributions of $3.6 million in 2024 and $7.5 million in 2025 among the 68 counties that impose local option sales and use taxes.
The plan calls for the team to select one home game per month from April through September as a discounted ticket day for all Wisconsin residents, and an increase from $20,000 to $40,000 that the team must donate annually to youth sports organizations.
Improvements could include winterizing the ballpark so it can be used for concerts and other events in the offseason.
Rep. Donna Rozar, R-Marshfield, noted this when she mentioned the economic activity spurred across the country by Taylor Swift’s blockbuster “Eras Tour,” which ends at Toronto’s heated ballpark in November 2024.
“I don’t know if you all have seen how she moves the needle economically when she goes to a place. If we can attract some of those people by winterizing this facility, that will be a tremendous benefit to the city of Milwaukee and the county of Milwaukee,” Rozar said.
The debate over the bill brought back memories of attending baseball games for many lawmakers, regardless of whether they supported the bills.
“It seems to me that we can’t help the average citizen in the state of Wisconsin, be it with health care, be it with housing, be it with a host of problems, but we will move heaven and earth to make sure that there are billionaires “They get what they want,” said Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde, D-Milwaukee, who voted against the proposal because he believes it doesn’t properly distribute the financial burden.
Rep. Adam Neylon, R-Pewaukee, said in a statement that he wants the Brewers to stay in Wisconsin but argued it was “irresponsible to give $546 million in taxpayer money to a team whose value has risen since then.” Last time it increased by more than $1 billion. “This time we built a stadium with taxpayer money.”
If the team wants to commit to Milwaukee, it should buy the stadium, Neylon argued.
Sixteen Republicans and eleven Democrats voted against the package.
The bills passed Tuesday have the support of Gov. Tony Evers, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
The proposal is likely to lead to changes in the Senate, including the implementation of a ticket surcharge for concerts and other non-Brewers events to raise money for stadium improvements, as well as an audit of the stadium district.
In an address to Assembly members, Vos and bill author Rep. Rob Brooks, R-Saukville, said they likely would not have voted for the 0.1% sales tax imposed in 1996 on five Milwaukee counties to finance construction of the stadium with Brewers retractable roof.
But whether lawmakers like it or not, the stadium belongs to Wisconsin taxpayers and it would likely be demolished without its home team, they said.
“It’s a simple calculation. If the Brewers go, the Bucks will follow,” Vos said. “The following dollars mean we have less money to invest in all the critical things that people think are important. That’s a fact.”
As Rep. Shannon Zimmerman, R-River Falls, put it: “We will sell significantly fewer bratwursts if the Brewers leave Wisconsin.”
Rick Schlesinger, the Brewers’ president of business operations, praised the bipartisan vote and said the team will continue to work with stakeholders to move the deal forward.
“Today’s bipartisan vote in the State Assembly shows that momentum continues to grow for a solution to preserve American Family Field and keep the Brewers in Milwaukee for the next generation,” Schlesinger said in a statement.
“We are very grateful to the legislative and local officials and to Governor Evers for the leadership that helped negotiate creative solutions that will protect taxpayers and prevent the return of the five-county sales tax,” he said.
